Remarking on the relation between education and politics, Joseph Stalin observed that “the writer is the engineer of the human soul.” In Stalinist fashion, today’s campuses are endeavoring to rewrite the souls of engineers.

Last week, the Wisconsin state assembly stepped up to defend free speech at its state colleges and universities. Its “Campus Free Speech Act” calls for the suspension or even expulsion of students who disrupt approved campus speakers.

Campus protests are the new, fashionable zeitgeist. Protesters have become emboldened, with virtual impunity. We need only look at recent cases to see that the precedent for protest has been firmly established.

President Trump’s first budget would enact a number of changes in higher education policy. While all of these reforms are controversial, abolition of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Plan could prove to be the most contentious.

If Nicki Minaj intends to pay the tuitions or student loans for all who can “show straight A’s,” she’s in deep trouble. Why? The answer reveals a little-known, but very dirty, secret of American education—massive grade inflation.

Throughout American history, our colleges and universities have enjoyed a respect, even a reverence, from the American people. And for good reason: A college degree has long been seen as the ticket to the American Dream—as the merit-based path onward and upward. No more.